The Smart and Beautiful Babies Compilation
by TerribleWaitress
Summary: A collection of little stories that revolve around the Hofstadter family - Leonard, Penny, and the smart, beautiful, and very real Joey and Izzie. (Originally just 'Full House', now it's more than that!)
1. Full House

**A/N - This idea popped into my head as I was listening to music post Easter lunch, and thinking about childhood memories and this was one of them (though I don't play the cello, or any instrument to any acceptable level!) Enjoy :) I only own Isabel and Joey. **

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Penny spotted the three seats labeled 'Reserved: Hofstadter' in the front row of the auditorium and grinned. She sat down eagerly, shrugging her jacket off and putting her cell on silent before placing it in her bag, which she put underneath her seat. Seconds later, Leonard walked in, followed by a little boy with dark hair and glasses, holding a white plastic cup.

"Here you go mommy," the boy said, handing her the plastic cup. "Red grown up drink."

"Thank you sweetie," Penny smiled, taking the cup from him. "Did you get yourself a drink too?"

"Orange juice," He showed her his cup, grinning. "Daddy said no fizzy drinks!"

"Well, he's right, no fizzy drink apart from special occasions."

"Like birthday parties?"

"Yes, like birthday parties," Leonard smiled, handing Penny a paper program. "Where do you want to sit, Joey? In the middle, or next to me, or next to mom?"

He thought about this for a moment. "Umm... next to Mommy," he decided eventually, sitting down on Penny's left.

Leonard sat down on Penny's right, taking a sip from his own plastic cup. "Did you bring the camera?"

"Oh, yeah!" Penny gave Leonard her plastic cup to hold, before reaching for her bag and extracting a digital camera. She passed it to him in exchange for her cup. "You're better at taking photos. The ones I took at Joey's school play were awful."

"Oh, they weren't _that _bad," Leonard smiled.

The lights in the room were dimmed, and a woman whom Penny and Leonard recognized to be the principal, Mrs. Summers, stepped onto the stage, which had now been lit.

"Good evening, everyone! It's lovely to see so many of you here, filling up the auditorium. All the students are really excited, so I will get straight to it and save the talking until the end! Without further ado..."

For the next hour, Penny and Leonard watched the stage attentively, politely applauding at the appropriate times. Joey watched attentively too, whispering to Penny whenever he recognized somebody. There was a twenty-minute interval, in which Leonard took Joey to the bathroom and Penny fetched them snacks from the stall in the cafeteria being run by staff. There was adequate time to eat and settle back down before the second half began.

It was half an hour into the second act that Penny, Leonard and Joey sat up excitedly.

"Next up, is Isabel Hofstadter, who recently won two awards for Outstanding Achievement and Progression in Music." She paused, grinning, as the audience applauded. "Later, we will see her perform with the String Quartet, but now - Isabel Hofstadter, performing for us a cello concerto by Schumann. She will be accompanied by Mrs. Evans on the piano."

Penny and Leonard applauded loudly, beaming with pride, as their little girl walked on stage with her bow, her cello carried on by her music teacher. She took a small curtsey at the front of the stage before sitting down and picking up her cello. Her long blonde curls shimmered in the light. Penny felt tears come to her eyes as she thought about how elegant she looked in her black concert dress. Leonard squeezed her hand gently, using the other to take photos. Joey gave her a small wave, and Isabel grinned at him before turning her attention to the music on the stand.

Penny quickly took her phone from her bag, and switched it from photo mode to video mode, hitting 'record' just before Isabel started playing. Her parents couldn't contain the smiles on their faces. She played beautifully, in sync with the piano, moving graciously and with passion. When she finished, the room burst into applause. Joey, Penny and Leonard stood up, with Joey shouting "I love you, Izzie!" to which she waved at him enthusiastically before blowing her parents a kiss.

Ten minutes later, she was back with the String Quartet, playing another gorgeous piece of music. Her parents were always blown away by how talented she was, and how talented other kids her age were too - they had evidently put in a lot of time and effort to reach this standard, and to learn this piece as a group. It was the last piece of the evening, and it received a standing ovation from all the parents, the children beaming as they received applause and cheering from a full house.

Mrs. Summers came back on stage to congratulate the students and thank the parents for their continued support. The children then all came back on for a group bow. She gave a small speech, before wrapping up the evening.

Leonard and Penny waited with Joey in the auditorium for their daughter, who came out ten minutes later, carrying her cello case, her coat draped over her arm.

"Izzie! Oh, look at you, in your pretty dress," Penny pulled her into a hug, kissing her forehead. "That was absolutely amazing, well done!"

"Thanks, mom," She grinned.

"You are so talented, my little Isabel," Leonard pulled her in for a hug too. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Mom says I play better than you," Isabel grinned proudly.

"There's no doubting that," Leonard grinned. "You talented little girl, did you enjoy it?"

"Definitely," Isabel nodded eagerly. "It's so fun performing in front of all these people, all dressed up with a fancy music stand and everything! Did you enjoy it too, Joey?"

Joey nodded, a big smile on his face. "Yours was my favorite piece. I wasn't even bored this time."

"Well, as a treat, we're going to go out for dinner," Leonard smiled, taking the cello case from his daughter. "What do you think?"

"Can we go to the Cheesecake Factory?" Isabel asked, smiling cheekily at Penny.

Penny giggled. "Of course we can."


	2. Mommy & Daddy's Princess

**A/N - I was babysitting and I took the kids to the library, where they were surprisingly very well behaved. So, I did a bit of fic research by reading childrens books, and it got my mind going. So... this will now be a random collection of Leonard & Penny smart & beautiful baby stories. I'm adding it to the one I wrote ages ago, because that's where I created the Hofstadter kids and its my basis for the rest of the ones I write! Hope you enjoy, let me know what you think :) **

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"Daddy?"

"Yes, sweetness?" Leonard turned around to look at Isabel, hands still on the dress he was taking out from the little girls closet.

"How long now until we see Mommy?"

"Well," Leonard took the dress off the hanger, and added it to the pile of clothes on Isabel's bed, before coming to sit down on the floor in front of her. "Today, we are packing your clothes into your suitcase. After you wake up tomorrow, we will go to the airport, and then we will get on the plane. When we arrive, we will go to the hotel. Then you're going to put on a pretty dress and I will put on a suit, and we're going to surprise Mommy. You'll stay up past your bed time, but you will get to hug her later in the evening."

Isabel thought about this for a moment. "Is Mommy gonna sing me a song tomorrow for bed time?"

"Yes." Leonard nodded. "But you will be in a different bed, at a hotel in New York."

"You gonna sing it with Mommy?"

"Of course," Leonard smiled. Isabel was probably the only person on this planet who had no objection to his or Penny's singing.

"Good. I drew a picture of you and Mommy and me." Isabel messily turned the pages of her drawing pad, eventually stopping at a picture. "You think Mommy's gonna like it?"

Leonard grinned. Their daughter's drawings always put a smile on his face. She would draw very small heads, with stick necks, and then big round bodies, followed by stick arms and legs with large clown feet. She would draw a belly button on the bodies. She would give Penny long, yellow, very straight hair, and Leonard would always have a line of brown curls around the top half of his head. Isabel always drew herself with short, slightly curled blonde locks. In this drawing, Isabel was holding a picture in one hand, Leonard was holding what he guessed was flowers.

"That's very good, Is," Leonard nodded. "You're a little artist."

"I know." Isabel looked at her father as though he had stated a very obvious fact. "That's Mommy. That's me, holding a picture to give Mommy. That's you, holding flowers for Mommy. You gonna get Mommy flowers?"

"Yes, I'm going to get her flowers, sweetness, and you can give her your picture."

"Daddy, can you help me write 'To Mommy, From Isabel' on the picture?" Picking up a pink crayon, she frowned, turning over to the next page. "I tried to practice like what you showed me but I can't do all of the letters."

"That's okay, darling, I'll help you," Leonard shuffled so he was sitting behind his daughter, and sat her on his lap.

"You gonna hold my hand again so you help me write it?" Isabel turned her head to look at Leonard, grinning. "I love when we do it like that."

Leonard nodded, kissed her forehead, and turned back to the picture. He put his hand over hers, and together they slowly wrote out 'To Mommy' at the top of the picture, and then 'From Isabel' at the bottom.

"We done it!" Isabel squealed excitedly, clapping her hands.

"Talented little girl!" Leonard grinned.

"Oh, I forgot something!" Isabel gasped. She leant forward and stuck her tongue out in concentration, as she added 'xxx' beneath her name. She turned to look at Leonard again. "Kisses for Mommy."

"Good idea."

"But not kisses like you give Mommy. That's icky."

Leonard chuckled. "It's not icky for Daddy."

"Kissing boys is _icky_."

"Good, you keep thinking that for a long time, okay?"

"I will." Isabel nodded. "It's only not icky kissing you." She turned around in his lap so she was facing him and pouted her lips and stretched her head up. "Kiss, Daddy." Using his arms for leverage, she pulled herself up slightly to plant a little kiss on his lips. She sat back down, grinning. "Love you, Daddy."

"And I love you too, Isabel." Leonard smiled, kissing her forehead. "Shall we continue packing?"

"Yes!" Isabel jumped up, running to sit on her bed next to the pile of clothes. Leonard got up too, heading back to her closet. "I wanna wear a pink dress to surprise Mommy tomorrow! The princess one!"

"This one?" Leonard pulled the pink, frilly, sparkly dress out of the closet.

"Yes!" Isabel clapped, grinning excitedly. Leonard laid the dress on the bed, and she fiddled with the frills. "I gonna be Mommy and Daddy's little princess tomorrow. How we gonna surprise Mommy?"

"Mommy doesn't know we're coming to see her play in New York. I didn't tell her I took some time off work." Leonard ruffled Isabel's short curls, a perfect mixture of his and Penny's hair. "So we will see her play, and then we're going to wait outside the theatre for her with flowers and your picture. We'll give her a big hug, a kiss, and we'll take her out for a tasty meal. Then we're going to sleep in a hotel. Mommy has a different hotel but this one is nicer. We'll stay there for a few days so we can spend some time with Mommy."

Isabel nodded, her face serious. She looked at Leonard for a moment. "You still miss Mommy?"

"Yes."

"Like me?"

"Of course."

"You always hug me when I say I miss Mommy." Isabel stood up on the bed. "I give you a hug, because you miss Mommy." She stepped carefully around the clothes on her bed, and wrapped her arms around Leonard. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close to him, smiling, slightly teary. "It's okay, Daddy," Isabel whispered. "We gonna see Mommy tomorrow."


	3. The Best Parents

**A/N - I was ill yesterday, so this is what I wrote once the good meds kicked in. Penny and baby Joey. I hope you enjoy this. As always, let me know what you think, I love hearing from you all! :) **

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Leonard and Isabel had gone to get food from the cafeteria, and so Penny was left alone with her son for the first time. She had a suspicion Leonard had done this on purpose - he could probably tell how overwhelmed she was, and that she needed some time alone. He had been right, as the second the door had closed her eyes had filled up with happy tears that rolled down her tired but smiling face.

"Hello Joseph," she whispered, rocking him gently as he slept. They had named him Joseph after Penny's grandfather, who had looked after her a great deal. She had been told that when she was born, her parents were still getting out of their 'wild days' - he had taken to looked after Penny's mother, Meryl, when she was pregnant, doing his best to stop her from smoking and drinking. As she grew up, Penny could remember him teaching her to ride horses, feed the chickens, and help her with early schoolwork. He had passed away while she was still young, but he had stuck around even when her parents had truly settled down.

"We're going to call you Joey," Penny continued quietly. "Kind of like Joey from Friends. My Grandpa Joey would have liked me naming you after him. He taught me to spell my name. I was really happy when he showed me that both of our names end in 'y', even though really his ends in 'h'."

Joey gripped harder onto Penny's finger, and her smile widened.

"Look at your tiny little fingers! You've got a strong grip. Maybe you'll have my Nebraskan man-hands." Chuckling slightly, she moved one hand to stroke his hair. "I think you'll have your fathers hair. It's dark; I bet it's going to be curly when it grows properly. The ladies will go crazy for that one day. But no ladies for you for a _long _time. I don't want you to be one of those stupid guys that Mommy did silly things with when she was younger, okay?"

Penny leaned down and kissed his forehead, and he gurgled at her slightly in his sleep.

"I want you to be just like your Daddy. He's not like all the other guys. He really loves me. You want to know a secret, little one? I love him the most." Penny giggled. "Out of everybody in this universe. I didn't tell him for a long time that I loved him. It's kind of scary sometimes, loving somebody that much. Lots of people I loved, or thought I loved, always left me. But Leonard - your Daddy - he never left me. Even after we broke up, and he started seeing somebody else... he was still there for me. And even when I was mad at him, even when he was mad at me, and even though for ages I was scared of getting married and having kids, you know what? He still loved me, and I still loved him. I think you should know that, that I love your Daddy very, _very _much. I know, you don't understand me, my little baby. But you know from day one - your Mommy loves your Daddy. Okay? And we both love you, and we both love Isabel. That's your sister. Your Daddy and I love you both to pieces. That's something you should know from day one, too."

Penny sniffed, and shook her head at how emotional she was - it had been the same when Isabel was born. She just continued talking through it, it helped.

"It's strange, how you don't think you want something until you meet the right person. I had never really thought about having kids, and the idea of marriage scared me. But having you, and Izzie, and marrying Leonard... those are the best moments of my life. Nothing will _ever _beat that. You three are the most important people in the world to me. Leonard says that too. He says I'm the best wife, ever. I hope you think I'm the best Mommy ever. Izzie says so, so... listen to your big sister, okay?"

Again, Penny giggled, before her face turned serious.

"Your Daddy and I won't be like our parents," she stroked his cheek gently with her thumb. "I know my parents love me very much, but... my mom was a bit silly, she was really young when she had us, and she only really settled down after she had me. Sometimes she would still drink, but she did stop smoking. She cares about me very much, and I know she will love you. Grandma Meryl. Sometimes I argue with her. But it was difficult growing up with a mom who would get drunk and then struggle and be too unwell to look after you. I'm happy she got out of that. My daddy also loves me very much, he's very protective of me. Grandpa Wyatt was also a bit silly - he didn't take working on the farm very seriously until his daddy died too. That was my Grandpa Robert. I wish my Daddy had been more protective of me when I was younger though, he didn't have as much time for me because of all the stress of the farm, and my mom wasn't working for a while so he did extra stuff like fixing peoples trucks. So he never had time to tell me off for being silly with boys, and Mommy did but I was naughty but I didn't listen. They never went to college aren't weren't very good at school, so I wasn't very good at that either."

Frowning, Penny shuffled to hold her son closer to her.

"Leonard's parents were... not very much like parents at all. He didn't have a good childhood. His parents didn't show him much love, they made their kids do papers for Christmas and he never got to celebrate his birthday. They were focused so much on work, they didn't care for their children like they should. All that mattered to them was that their children achieved academically. Even then, they were never proud of Leonard. They should be. Not just because he is their son, but because he's amazing. I bet they think he's got a PhD just because of the way they brought him up. But they're wrong. He's smart, and loving, and caring, despite the way his parents brought him up. He missed out on so many things you should have as a child, it's not fair."

She kissed his forehead again, and he opened his mouth slightly, still asleep.

"There is no way I'm letting you have a childhood like mine or your fathers. You and Is are going to have a real childhood, and your parents will _always _be there for you without a question." Penny began to rock Joey gently. "We'll always celebrate your birthday and Christmas with lots of presents, and surprises, and love. We're going to be proud of you no matter what - even if you get a C on your paper, that's okay, because you tried your best. We'll be equally proud of you whether you get an A+ or a C-. If anybody bullies you I'm going to go all Nebraska on the kids parents, nobody is allowed to make my kids sad. So you tell me, okay, if somebody hurts you. I won't get drunk unless you have a babysitter - I can't promise I'll never drink because sometimes, adults do, but you'll always have somebody taking care of you. Sometimes I'll have a glass of wine or two, but that's okay. Hmm. You and Is can tell me anything, anything you want, and you can tell your Daddy too. Sometimes we'll tell you off but it's only because we love you, and care about you. We'll take you on holidays, and decorate the Christmas tree together. If you want, Grandma Meryl can teach you to ride horses - that's what she does now. I'm not going to let Beverly attach electrodes to your brain or influence the way you're brought up. Maybe me and Daddy will make some mistakes along the way but I hope you forgive us if you do."

Penny blinked through another set of tears.

"God, I don't normally cry this much. Good thing you can't see me. I did the same with your sister. I did the same thing when I got married, too. But I'm crying because I'm happy, not because I'm sad. I'm just incredibly happy to have you in my life. I just can't believe how perfect you are."

Penny leant back in the bed against her pillows, a content smile on her face as she closed her eyes. She felt herself begin to calm down, having let out the hormones fuelled by her pregnancy and exhaustion. But she didn't care, she was happy.

Moments later, Leonard peeked his head through the door, and smiled upon seeing Penny, who had opened her eyes at the sound. "Hey. We good to come in?"

"Mm. Yeah." Penny nodded, sitting up again. She kissed Joey's forehead once more, as Leonard walked into the room, followed by Isabel, who was sticking out her tongue in concentration as she carried a tray of food.

"Izzie insisted on carrying it," Leonard chuckled. "Shall I put the baby in his crib?"

"Yeah, but bring the crib closer so I can see him properly." Penny held the baby out carefully to Leonard, as Isabel slowly placed the tray on the small table by the two chairs on the right hand side of the bed.

"Oh, hello baby boy," Leonard grinned as he held Joey, walking slowly to the crib. "Did you have fun with Mommy? You're lucky you're asleep, she was probably crying the whole time." As he placed Joey carefully into the crib, he leaned down and whispered, "I'll cry later, but that's between you and me... Mommy already saw me cry a bit earlier, I should man up, really. You'll cry enough for us both, I'm sure."

"What are you whispering about over there?" Penny raised a brow at him.

Leonard stood, smiling, and very slowly wheeled the crib closer to Penny's bed before locking the wheels. "Nothing. Just guy stuff."

"Better be, I think he needs it after our chat." Penny said.

"How can it be a chat? The baby can't talk." Isabel pointed out.

"Yeah, I did pretty much all the talking." Penny nodded. "It's okay, I did it with you too, sweetness."

"Oh. What's the point? Babies don't understand. Why you gonna tell them stuff if they don't get it?"

"It makes you feel happy, getting to talk to them. After we've eaten, you can try it, Izzie. You can talk to Joey and tell him all about yourself." Penny shuffled herself into a more upright position, Leonard helping to arrange the pillows behind her.

"Can I?" Isabel's jaw dropped. "I can really talk to him?"

"Yup," Leonard nodded. "Remember how you talked to him when he was in Mommy's tummy? It's like that, only... he's really here now."

"Wow!" Isabel blinked as the realization hit her that her brother was there, really there. "That's cool. I really got a little brother. I'm gonna tell him I'm the best big sister and we got the best parents ever."

Penny and Leonard looked at each other, not bothering to blink back the tears in their eyes as their daughter tore the lid off a yoghurt pot. Leonard leaned down and kissed Penny gently, who placed a hand on his jaw.

"Disgusting." Isabel commented, frowning at her parents. "Not the yoghurt. Kissing is yucky. You not gonna let me watch kissy bits in Princess films, so you not allowed to kiss now."


	4. Surprise

**A/N - I got lots of Lenny feels yesterday watching the S6 Extras (my box set finally arrived, a day late) so I ended up writing this. Hope you enjoy :) **

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"You got the plan?" Penny asked, crouching down in front of her daughter once she had locked the car.

"Yeah. We gonna go Daddy's lab, but you gonna go toilet. Then I say to him if he thinks we got a boy or a girl in Mommy's tummy."

"Excellent." Penny grinned, standing up. "I'll buy you some ice-cream later. You ready to go?"

"Yeah!" Isabel giggled. "I like making a surprise for Daddy."

"Good. Okay, sweetness, get up here, Mommy's gonna carry you while she still can." Penny held her arms out to Isabel, who jumped into them so Penny could carry her on her hip.

Along the way, Isabel waved at everybody they passed, and Penny gave small grins to those that she had met before. A few of them stopped to say hello to 'little Isabel Hofstadter' and 'the lovely Mrs. Hofstadter' and tell Penny 'oh how she's grown since Leonard last brought her to work'. Of course, all the attention was on their daughter - Penny often visited Leonard whilst their daughter was at pre-school or at a play-date.

Once they arrived outside Leonard's lab, Isabel knocked on the door with Penny's encouragement, and she stepped inside.

"Hey!" Leonard grinned, looking up from his notebook, walking over to greet them. "I wasn't expecting a visit today!" He gave Penny a quick kiss and then took Isabel from her, spinning her round before settling her on his hip. "How's my little princess?"

"I picked my dress today, Daddy," Isabel said proudly. "And I got dressed by myself."

"She's all grown up now!" Penny grinned at Leonard. "I'm just going to pop to the bathroom."

"Alright," Leonard nodded, walking into his lab properly once Penny had left. He moved his papers over and sat Isabel down on the desk, which she always enjoyed, before sitting down in his seat. "You do anything exciting today, sweetness?"

"Watched TV and went to the shop with Mommy." Isabel shrugged. "I saw Jennifer and her mom at the shop. Jennifer's gonna get a baby sister, her mom told me so and her mom is fat now."

"Isabel, she's not _fat, _just bigger, because she's carrying a baby."

"Do you think I'm gonna get a baby brother or a baby sister?" Isabel asked, her face curious.

"I... I don't know, sweetness. Do you want a brother or sister?"

"Yeah, I think it's gonna be a boy." Isabel stated matter-of-factly.

"Uh... you think _what's _gonna be a boy?"

"In Mommy's tummy."

Leonard stuttered for a moment. "Wh-what?" He wasn't sure if he was just over-interpreting what his three-year-old daughter was telling him, or if Isabel had just effectively told him that Penny was pregnant.

"Mommy says we not gonna know for a long time but _I _think it's a boy, 'cos then we have two girls two boys and it's fair." Isabel said, before adding "and two is an even number, you told me that Daddy, 'member?"

"Umm..." Blank faced from shock, Leonard just stared at his daughter as she continued talking animatedly as though she hadn't just told her father that his wife is pregnant.

"Anyways, Mommy said if it's a girl it's gonna be lots of trouble because two Izzie's is lots of dresses and lots of princess stuff. But if its a boy then my bedroom can't be pink but that's okay. Julia gotta share her bedroom with her little brother and Miss Cook said we gotta share."

"Uh..."

"Daddy!" Isabel suddenly sat up excitedly, changing the topic in the way only a three-year-old can. "Can I draw on that big whiteboard?"

"Ah, umm..."

"So I'm guessing she told you?" Penny stepped into the lab, grinning at the expression on Leonard's face. She stepped over to her daughter, holding out her hand. Isabel raised her own little hand, grinning, and high-fived Penny. "Great job, Is. Here, take these markers and you can draw on the whiteboard behind you while I talk to your Daddy."

Isabel took the markers Penny had held out to her and turned around, kneeling up on her knees as she pulled the lid off the blue marker.

Penny smirked at Leonard and then walked across to the other end of his lab. "Wow, this looks like a pretty awesome experiment."

"I..." Leonard sat there for a moment as Penny simply look at the set-up on the table to his right, before he managed to get himself out of the chair and walk over to her. "You..."

"Yup." Penny nodded, and despite herself, she felt her eyes glaze over slightly with happy tears. "I'm pregnant, Leonard."

"Oh my God," Leonard pulled her into a hug, wrapping his arms tightly around Penny, as hers came around his neck. "It's even more amazing when you say it."

"Mm." Penny relaxed into his arms. "It feels amazing to say it."

Leonard chuckled, and pulled away, holding her arms. "Well, you told Izzie first."

"Hmm, it's not quite the same as telling you though." Penny giggled. "I just thought your reaction would be _hilarious _if our daughter was the one who told you I was pregnant. It was _so _worth it."

"Yeah, I should have figured something was up when you came in here with Is." Leonard smirked.

"Shut up," Penny shook her head, leaning in to kiss him on the lips.


	5. Parental Night Shift

**A/N - I'm on some kind of creative roll this week! Updates, drawings, penning stuff for future fics... you can all thank the British weather returning to rain and grey skies, keeping me indoors. Hope you enjoy! :) **

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"Don't even _think _of getting out of bed or I will sedate you, Leonard Hofstadter." Penny muttered, holding her arm out across Leonard's body to push him back down at the same time she sat bolt upright.

"You've already been up twice-" Leonard began to argue.

"I'm sorry, since I last got up to feed her did you grow boobs?" Penny glared at him as she got out of bed.

Leonard sighed dejectedly. "No."

"Well then," Penny said, as she gently picked up Isabel from the crib and brought her back over to the bed, where she sat down. "There's no use in you getting out of bed, is there?"

He watched as Penny began to feed Isabel. Despite Penny's constant snappiness - even now she was used to it, she still wasn't a morning person - she had a smile on her face as she looked down at their daughter.

"I could have brought her to you so you don't have to get out of bed," he said after a while. "You're on your feet all the time."

"Sweetie, I know you're trying to help," Penny looked up at him, her tone softened now she had her daughter in her arms. "But what's going to help me more is if you stay asleep through the night so you're rested enough to be on top form for work tomorrow. Now that your leave is over, you need to make sure you get some sleep during the night. So you relax your brain and let my boobs do the work for now, okay? Just think of it this way: you do the day shift, I do the night shift."

Rolling onto his side, Leonard propped his head up on his hand. He was about to argue that she got the easy part, but then remembered she was the one who had carried the baby for nine months and then spent hours in labor, before actually giving birth to their daughter. That definitely changed his mind. "Okay, fine. Working day shift, parental night shift. But I wake up when she cries anyway, so there's no point telling me to stay asleep."

"Then just roll over, and go back to sleep when she stops crying. You don't have to watch me feed her _all _the time. You'll spend your entire day yawning, you need sleep."

"I'll be fine after I've had a few coffees. They're not expecting me to work on some giant super-experiment the moment I'm back at work." Leonard shrugged. "Besides, you're even more tired than I am."

"Yeah, but I get to stay home all day doing nothing just looking at our daughter. You've got... lasers and stuff. I've got the television and Little Miss Sleepy." Penny smiled at him for a moment, before wincing and looking back down at Isabel. "Okay, I get it baby girl, you don't want anymore."

Leaning over, Penny held Isabel out to Leonard, who kissed her forehead, before standing up and taking her back over to the crib. She kissed Isabel's forehead too, before lowering her into the crib. Isabel blinked once at Penny, before closing her eyes.

Readjusting her pajama top, Penny walked back over to the bed and crawled back under the covers, placing her head on Leonard's chest and wrapping an arm over his stomach. He moved one arm around her shoulders to gently stroke her arm, and turned his head a little to kiss the top of her head.

"Hmm," Penny sighed contentedly, eyes fluttering shut.

As he always did, Leonard watched her as Penny fell back asleep, mouth slightly open with the occasional soft snore she would always deny. Smiling to himself, he looked from Penny, to Isabel, and back again, wondering how he got so lucky to have two of the most beautiful girls in his life. Of course, he was outnumbered. With a smirk, he wondered if one day there'd be a little guy to even the Hofstadter women:men ratio out.


End file.
